You Should Make Pizza In Your Air Fryer. Here's Why
By now, everyone knows that the air fryer is something of a go-to option when it's time for a meal in a hurry or a lighter version of perfectly crisp fried foods. But people are beginning to realize that the small countertop kitchen appliance can be used for far more than just your favorite deep-fried recipes. That's why Insider spoke with a couple of top chefs to learn what their best air fryer hacks were.
Jess Dang, the creator and chef behind Cook Smarts, said that pizza was actually one of her favorite things to make in the air fryer. Dang loves using the appliance to cook up small pizzas because it's just the right size for the mini pies and you won't forgo the crispy crust you love. Plus, there's always the advantage of the short preheat time of an air fryer instead of an oven. But Dang is far from alone in her love of air fryer pizza.
This is how to make pizza in an air fryer
While Chef Dang shared with Insider her quick-and-easy naan-based homemade air fryer pizzas, Live Eat Learn explained how you can make more of a classic pizza inside your own air fryer. The blog's real game-changing trick is two-fold: first cook the crust alone (for three minutes) to ensure it's crispy when done, then assemble the homemade pizzas inside the air fryer to avoid cooked-on messes that require more clean-up time.
For those cooking a pre-made personal-sized pizza from the store, you'll also want to know the right settings to heat your pie in the air fryer instead of the (toaster) oven. As said, the air fryer is much quicker. Per Chef Dang, "Because an air fryer has a small cavity that doesn't require preheating, it gets the cheese bubbly and the bread toasted much faster than an oven would" (via Insider).
Live Eat Learn suggests heating the air fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and cooking the pizza for around seven minutes. Don't forget to brush your crust with olive oil if you want it to get perfectly golden brown inside of the air fryer, too. And with that you can have an amazing, crisp, and golden brown pizza in less than 10 minutes thanks to the air fryer.